(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a flow channel system for application in a paintball gun, which is integrally built in the basic structure of the paintball gun, and enables increasing speed of vaporization to produce a high working pressure. The entire structure is solid, and the operating mechanism is extremely safe, which is beneficial during actual practice and training. The configuration primarily uses a pre-vaporizer positioned close to the inner side bordering on a gun main body, which is able to rapidly absorb heat that has entered the surface of the gun main body through thermal equilibrium and pre-agitate gas molecules, thereby accelerating the speed of dissociation of the gas molecules in advance, and ultimately preparing a substantial increase in pressure in a chamber. In addition, the flow channel system is integrally and structurally protected by the physical body of the gun main body, thus achieving a system which is structurally solid and protective.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The present invention provides a flow channel system with flow channels having a physical configuration for a paintball gun, and which is able to increase the speed of vaporization.
Paintball guns or BB guns of the prior art use a compressible gas stored in a pressure-resistant gas supply bottle, and after joining to the gun, the interior of the gas supply bottle distributes pressure into the interior of the gun body to serve as the pressure source for firing a projectile. The gas commonly used is carbon dioxide, N2 (nitrogen) or HPA (high pressure air) compressed to form a liquid state, which expands into vaporized molecules after being released, producing high pressurized pressure to serve as the pressurized force for firing a projectile. The principal functional use of a paintball gun is to enable obtaining a clear and definite color marking at the point of impact, and with a force of impact that the human body can withstand. Accordingly, in order to safeguard the safety of the skin of the human body, the strength of the force of impact of the guns commonly used in international sports competitions and riot control must be regulated and controlled within the margin of safety. Hence, the pressure output of the gun is, as a matter of course, also set at a safe pressure value.
Regarding gun design of paintball guns, apart from demanding that the firing pressure be within the margin of safety, limiting the quantity of gas supplied is an issue of primary importance for designers. If the amount of pressure output is only small, but is able to achieve the required pressure after vaporization, then a corresponding saving is made on the quantity of gas supplied, thereby achieving the objective of conserving energy.
Regarding the flow channel configuration of the gun, earlier versions used a single expansion method of the gas, which then entered a bolt in preparation for firing. However, the system design resulted in dissipation of energy. More recent designs conserve energy, and the efficiency in vaporization enables achieving a higher booster effect for the loading of ink, thereby achieving the objective of conserving energy. Moreover, having a vaporizing flow channel system, the design formed a partition method of different sections, such as Taiwan patent No. 099208496, and the many kinds of related designs within the range of categories of F41 B-011 of Taiwan and international patent classifications.
In Taiwan patent No. 099208496, the interior of a gun body is partitioned into a first section, a second section and a third section. The first section and the second section form a covering structure with internal and external layers using conjugate means within the cylindrical interior of the gun, and the axis serves as the bolt design of the third section. The first section is used for a pre-gas expansion operation, and then the second section is used for storage and re-expansion, after which pressure within the second section is output to the bolt of the third section to serve as the firing pressure source. Such a design uses a coaxial conjugate internal-external layer covering structure, with the first section being used to singly and comprehensively intercept and absorb the heat conducted inward from the outer surface of the gun body. Hence, the second section is unable to obtain heat from the gun body, causing the speed of expansion to be not so evident.
In addition, Taiwan patent No. 92221568 similarly provides a vaporization mechanism for a paintball gun. The patent discloses that a diverging tube is fitted underneath the front side of a gun body, and the diverging tube is joined to a gas supply bottle through a high-pressure guide tube. The diverging tube serves as a handle mode of operation for firing, whereby the temperature of the palm of the user is directly conducted into the gun, causing a pressure booster component to effect a pressure boosting operation resulting from the heat. The pressure then directly enters a gas storage tube, thereby providing a pre-boost vaporization operation effect. The objective being to conserve usage amount of the pressure source. However, the design uses a guide tube joined to the pressure source, which affects the all-terrain operational design of the gun. Moreover, the guide tube is an exposed component, and is a linear tubular device, which is disadvantageous should objects collide with the guide tube during training and sports games or when holding and operating the gun. In particular, when in a posture lying prostrate with the gun set up on the ground aiming at a target, the guide tube may collide with objects underneath the gun, such as a low wall or the tops of stones, causing the guide tube to rupture due to the collision and endangering personal safety.
Nowadays, such designs of the outward appearance of current guns are disadvantageous to adopt under the prerequisite for realism when training and in sport simulation contests.